Wednesday, 31 October 2007

Presenting live at Genting International Showroom from 2nd - 11th November, the show is headlined by Tin Tan, sexy Carmen Soo amongst others. Students can get tickets at only RM38 or receive a seat upgrade.

I enjoy running and, after having lost many loved ones to the dreaded disease, am passionate about cancer research too.

So what better way to combine my love for the two than to take part in the Terry Fox Run KL, happening at the Lake Gardens this coming Sunday at 8:30am.

(No, I still live in Kuching. Yes, I'm flying off to KL again.)

The Terry Fox Run KL aims to raise fund for cancer research.

The run is 6.5km long, but kids can take the shorter route of half that distance. The event is easy, all-inclusive, non-competitive and the route will be scenic and shaded. If you don't wanna run, you can choose to cycle, rollerblade or find other ways to propell yourself forward. As long as you cross the finishing line, it's good enough liaw.

No registration is required and no fees are payable. Of course, it'd be nice to buy the T-shirt and donate a bit to charity lah!

Last year, aspiring ironman-in-training Azman participated in the run and had this to say.

This event is such an eye opener. I've never witnessed the generousity and support of Malaysians for charity events like this. And according to my guess, I never will.

Why?

70% of those who came are not Malaysian! I've never seen such gathering of expats and their offsprings ever in my life!

Please lah, people. It's for charity, it's a healthy activity, and you're not even obligated to pay a single cent to take part in it. So what exactly is so difficult?

Unfortunately for some Malaysians, it seems REALLY difficult. Even I had a hard time trying to get my friends to join me for the run.

A typical MSN conversation goes something like this.

Kenny: Hey, I'll be in KL this Sunday, taking part in the Terry Fox Run. Wanna join?Friend: What time is it?Kenny: 8:30am at Taman Tasik Perdana (Lake Garden).Friend: Thanks but no thanks. But I will run with you in my sleep.Kenny: Come lah!Friend: I don't think I could wake up!Kenny: Why not?Friend: Because I'll be clubbing on Saturday night!Kenny: ...

Looks like I'll be running solo again.

In case you're wondering who this "Terry Fox" person was, he's a Canadian who was 18 years old when he was first diagnosed with bone cancer. As a result of his disease, his right leg has to be chopped off and replaced with an artificial leg.

While in hospital, Terry Fox was touched by the suffering of his fellow cancer patients. He wanted to help them. In 1980, he made a resolution to run across Canada in order to inspire people and to raise fund for cancer research. Despite losing a leg, the then-22-year-old ultimately ran the distance of 42km EVERY DAY, for 143 consecutive days.

He called it the Marathon of Hope. The photo of him limping with a prosthetic leg, with vehicles following closely behind him, is the most iconic from the 1980s.

Terry Fox died one month short of his 23rd birthday, after he was forced to abandon his run due to failing health.

By then, everyone had heard of the cancer patient who ran with a prosthetic leg to cover an amazing distance of 5,373 km. His legacy led to the establishment of the Terry Fox Foundation and the Terry Fox Run, both of which were set up the same objectives as the Marathon of Hope.

To find the cure for cancer.

30 years ago, a cancer victim with a prosthetic leg ran a marathon distance of 42km EVERY SINGLE DAY. If someone in that position could do that, what more does that say about us who've got two perfectly fine legs?

Today, trying to get someone to wake up for a run is already like worse than getting cancer.

but then again malaysian can be quite supportive if given the right initiative la ... like the recent IMU open charity run ... had to give nike dry fit shirts and goody bag to attract runners ... haih ...

Dear Kenny,
I have been following up on your blog for a while now. It's fantastic how you have created this public awareness through your blog. You have never been political in your blog, and your latest article is a real piece of work. Hat's off to you, my friend. Keep up the good work.

As a 26-year-old cancer survivor, I highly commend you for doing this. I hope that through your blogging, it'll inspire more people to sit up and take notice of such events. And the young people nowadays need to pay attention to such events and do your bit. It might be you yourself you're helping someday. Do not think that you're young; therefore cancer will not get to you. I used to think that - the thought of getting cancer at my age never occurred to me until I got it.

Maybe after reading your blog some ppl may even think about joining it. I'll ask my friend if she want to give it a try. I wish i could join too but cos of my health i can't and i have to sit for my STPM exams. Mostly, it's cos of my health.

I'm from Canada, Toronto to be precise. Terry Fox is a hero over here, and one of our national idols. I'm glad to see word has reached as far as Malaysia... everyone needs to do their part to help out.

Hi Kenny, it's really great how you're trying to get malaysians motivated enough to run. i used to take part in the run when i was a kid (although i can't now seeing that i'm not in the country anymore) and was as astonished as your friend with the high turn-out of expats.

Don't be too disheartened about the apathetic attitudes of malaysians..by posting this on your blog, i'm sure you've already drawn a few people into the run...even if only for the fact that they want to save face and not lose out to the whites!

kenny i really admire ur spirit and thanks for sharing the story of this great man! would be so glad to join in such charity in the future when im back in msia. praying that more malaysians would wake up and realise wat is happening around them and make the society a better place

My ex-school in Beijing held it every year too. (Still in highschool now though) And I watch all the lil' primary kids run and cycle in their tricycles. Haha. Adorable.
Yes. Support this people, those in Malaysia!
Don't lose face to the angmo(s)!
I mean, think about all those kids with cancer that never got to live their lives fully! :D

Wow, too bad I'm currently in Penang and am preparing for my SPM, or I would have joined you... I can understand the whole harder-to-persuade-than-to-surive-cancer scenario perfectly, I've gotten so tired persuading my best friend to go to functions and even SPM seminars until I'm fed up. Her main reasons to her every refusal are: 'What? So early ah? I want to sleep lah...' and 'Cannot! My anime is showing at that time...'

but does it do more good to participate in the free run, or to contribute directly to cancer research (monetarily or otherwise)? i don't really get what the run does for cancer research. except maybe generate awareness.

I think it would help if you buy the t-shirt or write them a cheque payable to Terry Fox foundation or something.

The key thing here is to raise awareness.

If you want to help but not want to run, kindly find out how you can contribute in CASH?

Since I know many people are not keen to go and run anyway, giving excuses and sorts. Lazy, right? Go and write a cheque. Post to them. Do something that doesn't require you to move that ass of yours too much.

Once it(cancer) happens to people, then they would realize that it. Realize that there is such a limited source of treatment to cure this sickness, and something could have been done to avoid this. Personally, this illness has taken away my loved ones, so i am totally devastated when it comes to people not giving a damn about helping out to this cause. So, stand up people and join, participate for the RUN!

Hi Kenny, Just back from the Dublin Marathon 2007 and I saw this post of urs. I can't agree more with you saying that most Malaysian are very inactive in all these charities and volunteering work. I did not ran for marathon, tho cos I din train for it. Just helped out as a volunteer. Hopefully i will be fit enough next year to run for it with a good cause =) If you have any advice in training please do let me know, i would very much appreciate it. Have fun in the run!

Ieee.... My eyes welled up with tears upon reading about the brave Terry Fox.
We always take everything for granted.
It's amazing what one man can do (Despite minor setbacks) to get the world to sit up and take notice because so many of us are handicapped ourselves; blinded and engulfed by the pleasures of life.

If I was in Malaysia I'll be there too!(Though I'm not Malaysian but hey no one can tell until I speak!)

It's impossible to ask some ppl to join...tried asking my own friends for a 5km run itself is a mountain of a task.. all excuses shoot up..but then they ask after that.."wah, how come you got so much time to run?" .. the trick is to make exercise as impt as eating and sleeping.. it is after all...

Is sad to know how people react towards charity. And I know the pain that cancer patients are going through because I'm a nurse myself, and working in a cancer ward. The emotional and physical pain is too hard to explain. Seeing their family in distress is also another pain.

Glad to know you are participating in this. If there's a chance, I would join it as well. =)

eventhough i lived in pj all my life and KL isnt tht far BUT can someone please tell me whr is lake garden? (pls!! dun laugh at me, can?) and is it easy to get thr by public transport? i dun feel like driving, worried tht thrs no place to park :S

hey kenny, i ran at the terry fox run in singapore and i say that you should not expect it to be a well managed run like those you had experienced. but it is heartening to see people coming with families and kids and running for the cause. it is something meaningful that i wanted to do for a long time, and i glad i didn't miss it this year. although i did like the fact that it wasn't easy running but hell, why should i complain when i do see people who ran with their prosthetic leg or in their wheels. i am lucky and blessed with healthy limbs! all the best for your run and i do applaud your motivation to run for the cause!

Just a thought to ponder, how many percent of the fund will go directly to the cancer research? As we know, the charity event these days, from concert to tv show to open walk, only a limited amount of the fund will go directly to the charity. A whole part of it will go into the pocket for organiser, the participating companies and sorts. There is never a official presentation of the exact amount of the charity donations.

Sorry, I didint meant not to support this race. This just flash through my mind. I would suggest if you would to do a charity, do it directly aka donate the money to the respective organisation directly without going through the 'middle man'.

Hi Kenny, I SO know what you mean. Ive been trying to get some of my friends/sis to join me in this run, but they ALLLLLL got some kind of excuse la. I SO want to run, and I AM going to do it, but am kinda worried. I've never run a marathon before. And I really wished I had someone to run with. Lets say I take public transport there, where do I keep my valuables, IC, mobile, cash? Quite a noob at these things, but hey, I'm making an effort. I DO want to participate. I think I will even go buy the tshirt tomorrow. So Kenny, answers please? Muchos gracias. ;)

Actually I read about the Terry Fox run months ago over the internet. Its like the biggest charity run in the world and its for a good cause too. I would love to join you for the cause of cancer but I am all the way in Ireland. Have fun running mate.

As a Malaysian, I've been wondering why alot of us are not as passionate as some foreigners in these chairty thingies. Usually the answers I get when I ask my friends to join me in the charity drive is like: I'm lazy 'lah'... cant go 'lah'... cant run 'lah'... It's pointless 'lah'... no money 'lah'... no time 'lah'... all those freaking excuses.

Seems like doing something for charity is pointless and wasting time to some of them.

Terry Fox was a student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC when he was diagnosed with cancer. He's revered as somewhat of a hero here in SFU and the annual Terry Fox run is a highly celebrated event. There's a brass statue of Terry on campus.

I read about Terry Fox when I was young, and I wanted to join the run but it was only held overseas that time. I'm so happy that they're holding it in KL and I'll definately be there!

Yeah even though I've got big exams coming up round the corner too and even though most probably none of my friends would join me either and even though I have not been exercising for eons =p

Anyway for elaine up there who isn't quite sure where lake gardens is, here's a map:
http://www.streetdirectory.com/malaysia/kl/travel.php?travel_id=343&travel_site=169&x=798148.8900&y=347845.9800&star=1&viewmode=&level=5#map

I'm not too sure how to get there by public transport though..there's no lrt stations near enough and when I checked thru streetdirectory the nearest bus stops are 3km away.. =O

wow...u've great influence towards ur fan...
i've heard of terry fox from pastor's prieching at church...the line "the running i can do, even if i have to crawl every last mile" just struck me hard. thumbs up kenny!

I would really love to go but cousin's wedding on that day and i'll be in penang. Thanks for doing your part for charity kenny. the world needs more ppl like u. have fun at the run. would hv loved to meet u :) we went to kuching and were hoping to bump into u but didnt unfortunately

I wish the organizer could arrange a shuttle bus to ferry people from KL Sentral to Lake Garden... Heck, even to the National Muzeum is enough! I think the closest station to Lake Garden is the KL Station stop.... Correct me if I am wrong.

1st time i heard about Terry Fox n so touched! u do successfully create the awareness, n from what i've seen, u 've successfully gathered at least 50 ppl to join u! good job kenny! ...so, do u intend to bring those t-shirt back to kuching n raise some fund for them? i'll support that!

hehehe. well, thanks to Kenny...more people realize there is such thing as charity...but are you guys doing something about it? don't just talk the talk but don't walk the walk. no offense to anybody. :) cheers to all those who did their part!

I don't know how it's organized in Malaysia, but generally participants don't even have to run. You can run if you want, but if you're a person who prefers to walk, then walking is encouraged. Organizers don't want you to injure yourself - they want you to raise awareness and funds for cancer research - and have a good time.

hey there kenny,
i am new as your blog reader but i am impressed with your articles. they are so funny at times that i have made my sister and my mum an addicted to your site.
i was introduced by a close fren, jo-ee to your blogs and i was sketical at first but in the end, i enjoyed it.
anyway, talking abt the TFRKL, i am glad that i managed to bring my sister and my fren and her sister to the run last sunday. i mean, it was for a good cause and also, the workout you get in the morn is nothing compared to lazing abt at home, sculpting faces from your flabs or cellulite right? hehehhehe
it was during the FF warmup that i had a starstruck moment.i saw YOU!!! i was so damn excited like what!!! i was literally eyeing you from one end to another (i am not a stalker, mind).but since it was the warmup session, i didn't take the photo op with you. after the run (which i ran the whole stretch), i was looking for you but to no avail.
i hope to see some pix and a blog from you abt the run last sunday.

Its so sad all this hv,to happen in KL I was in Toronto finishing my high sch. when this Terry Fox event was happening.I wish kenny would advertise in a week or 2 in advance to let peoples fr.kch to join in the run.I've lost a many friends to this diesease.My sis,was a cancer survivor.U all should take a look at the video while he was running during the cold weathers ane song fr.the group Hollies was playing on the background.LONG AND WINDING ROAD.Kenny,if you are really a man of yr. words.You should round up all those fr.KCH who are interested 2 join for next year run>I'm one for sure if i'm not at the states.Cheers 2 u.